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Peanut Butter Surprise

After having lived in London for a couple of months, I decided to finally invite a few friends over for a cupcake and prosecco themed housewarming afternoon on a Saturday. My day turned out to be everything but how I’d planned it. Friday nights are unpredictable. Let me give you a quick summary of what not to do the night before you hold a party:

It started with dinner at the cosmopolitan time of 10.45 pm in Mayfair, including pre-dinner drinks and plenty of alcohol to accompany our meal. After having built up a base with chinese food, the night continued with bottles of prosecco in a place called Novikov for birthday nr.1. By this time it was already about 2am and we hadn’t even properly gotten started (truth is , my initial aim was to head home latest at 1.30, wake up at 9am and start baking my 72 cupcakes. Clearly I had missed the moment). One birthday doesn’t seem enough to celebrate on a night, so we crashed another one in some members club on Jermyn Street. As swanky and nice as this party was, the vibe wasn’t working for our group and no one seemed to be ready to head home. What is left at 3.30am on a Friday night? Raffles in Chelsea with lots and lots and lots of vodka. No more details needed.

By 5 or 5.30am, 4 hours after planned, I managed to stumble up my staircase (5 floors, no biggie when in heels and completely drunk), change into my pj’s and pass out on my bed. Sadly, I forgot to charge my dead iPhone before passing out. My alarm, which had been set for 9am, didn’t go off. When I opened my eyes for the first time the next day they were greeted with sunshine and the clearest blue sky. It was already 11:30am. Damnit. My drunken swiss discipline kicked in and within just over 3 hours I had baked and iced 72 cupcakes (3 different flavors). I have never drunken so much water in such a short period of time without having to pee once. Luckily my housewarming offered the perfect evidence-based cure for my hangover: alcohol 🙂

As for these cupcakes: I wanted to try something new and stumbled across Ferrero Rochers opposite the baking section in my supermarket. In my mind the combination with peanut butter seemed amazing, worth a try. I wasn’t sure if they’d survive the heat of the oven in one piece, but they did!

Peanut Butter Surprise Cupcakes

makes 24 small cupcakes or 12-16 according to the Hummingbird (peanut butter dough was based on their recipe)

For the sponge, mix together the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until crumbly.

Mix together the milk and eggs by hand. Add these to the dry mixture and whisk until your batter is smooth.

Add your peanut butter and mix it through by hand, making sure it is spread out evenly. Taste your dough and add more peanut butter if necessary.

Divide your dough between the cases, making sure they are about 2/3 full.

Place a Ferrero Rocher in the middle of each cupcake.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the sponge bounces back when lightly touched. Set aside to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, for the frosting, combine the butter and the icing sugar. Gradually mix the milk into this mixture and mix until light and fluffy.

Stir in the peanut butter until it is spread evenly and smooth. Taste and maybe add more peanut butter if you feel it needs it.

Generously frost each cupcake and finish with a sweet honey roasted peanut on top of each one.

One two three four – SCORE[Numerical ratings are out of four, where four is best/healthiest/hardest.]Taste: 3.5… definitely cupcakes which need to be eaten fresh, the crunchy layer of the Ferrero Rocher doesn’t keep crispy so long.Difficulty: 2Healthiness: not applicableCost: apart from the Ferrero Rochers and the peanut butter it’s cheapOverall: 3.5